Felicia Persaud

Stories by Felicia

Conservative U.S. Southern District Judge Andrew S. Hanen has undoubtedly dealt a harsh blow to immigrants set to begin applying this week for relief under President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration reform.

U.S. Citizenship AND Immigration Services is moving ahead with plans to process applications for those eligible for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program as ordered under executive action by President Barack Obama.

Sitting in the birthplace of America’s greatest immigrant and hearing the madness being spewed by Republicans in Congress in Washington, D.C., makes me wonder how Alexander Hamilton would have been treated today if he were living as an immigrant in America.

As the Republican hound fest convened to try to discredit Lynch through U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and President Barack Obama, the former New York district attorney stood her ground and defended the office and especially the president’s executive immigration action.

26 Republicans voted against an amendment passed on Jan. 14 that would block funds for President Barack Obama’s 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and overturn the president’s immigration executive actions from 2011.

In 2015, as I look into my crystal ball on immigration, it is clear that this will be another year of battle over the hot-button issue, especially now that the GOP has taken control of both houses of Congress.

Last week, the Wall Street Journal carried a story that quoted the chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security as saying he is preparing a border-security bill aimed at better measuring illegal crossings, with targeted improvements in equipment and technology along the Southwest border. On the Senate side, Ron Johnson, R.-Wis., the incoming chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, also told the paper that he hopes to have a framework for a border-security bill ready by late January.

One hundred and two open letters to President Barack Obama; undocumented youth risking arrest and deportation each time they occupied the offices of members of Congress; parents who participated in direct action and sit-ins in front of the White House; and countless immigrant activists and organizations to rally the president and Democrats all came down to Thursday night, Nov. 20, and excitement over the long overdue, much publicized executive immigration action announcement.

After spending the entire year doing nothing on immigration reform and blocking and bashing every appeal, offer, lobby, cry and motion sent to them, the GOP is now up in arms over the possibility of you using administrative moves on the issue.

Immigration Korner

On Labor Day, Sept. 1, Caribbean immigrants in New York will mark the 47th anniversary of the West Indian American Day Carnival. But most importantly, this year will mark some 414 years since West Indians have been in these United States, first as slaves and then as immigrants.

I’m sure you are all caught up on Twitter, but just in case you missed it, on Aug. 7, House Speaker John Boehner tweeted a picture of himself with a farmer with the caption: “Always great to spend time with America’s hard-working farmers and ranchers.”

It’s amazing to me that both houses of Congress cannot agree on major issues of interest to Americans who elect them—including immigration reform—yet they did manage to pass legislation providing financing for Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system before they left Washington for the summer break.

Immigration Korner

Against the backdrop of the Statue of Liberty in New York City last week, dozens of New Yorkers gathered to urge you to make good on your remarks made June 30 to take executive action on immigration reform. New Yorkers for Real Immigration Reform Campaign, organized by the New York Immigration Coalition, want you and the White House to “act fast.”

Immigration Corner

This past week, I was pleasantly surprised to receive from you and the White House a response to my personal immigration story and open letters calling for immigration reform. The letter reiterated your support for immigration reform even though it comes in the midst of the latest immigration battle at the borders, as thousands of Central American children and women seek to add to the undocumented population of the United States.

Help for the 11 million-plus undocumented migrants in the United States almost always seems to take a backseat to one crisis after another. Just when it seems relief is in sight for hard-working people who desperately need some form of working papers for the years they have paid their dues in this country, something else happens to prevent this from happening.

In the midst of recovering from complicated surgery, I have had to face the sad reality that comprehensive immigration reform is dead in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives for another year. Now, in the season of World Cup fever, where immigrants have dominated and helped most of the major teams, including the U.S., the ball is really in your corner. Will you score a goal or will you get the red card?

Immigration Korner

The best thing about the new age of journalism is that it allows for readers to immediately react to stories on the news websites. I love reading these message boards, especially the responses on immigration stories, as it gives a very real insight into the way Americans feel despite the lack of congressional action.

I just returned from Valencia, Spain, last week and was stunned at two things. First off, being “Americano,” or a holder of a non-EU passport, placed me in an entirely different immigration category upon arrival. Secondly, no one bothered to cater to the fact that neither I nor my colleague spoke Spanish well.

Immigration Korner

I had a conversation with a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officer. She herself is an immigrant but a naturalized citizen. Each day, her job entails interviewing dozens of immigrants to measure their qualification for immigration benefits

Immigration Korner

The Republican National Party has some nerve, spending $10 million to ramp up Hispanic field operations in key states and flood Spanish-language news media with advertisements opposing the Affordable Care Act

It’s almost the end of the year, and it’s a great time to look back on the ups and downs of immigration reform in 2013, especially since U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement told us on Dec. 19 that it deported 368,644 immigrants globally in the 2013 fiscal year.